Caution! Longyang Road Station is now haunted by taxi hustlers who solicit on foreigners only. But even many seasoned travelers who found its own way to the lineup still ended up in a trap. Obviously, it was the dereliction of duty of the transportation-inspecting authority that was to be blamed. I heard many such stories from my own customers and read complaints and warnings filed by other victims on the internet for years on end since the operation of Maglev line from 2003. It’s such a blemish to the image of the city and especially to the people of Shanghai or even China while it all happens right beneath the face project via which thousands of foreigners expect to get a fond first impression upon initial arrival.There are some tips to avoid the scam that I hope would be useful to you. Good luck!

1, Don’t go for car plate with letter “X”. A car plate with letter x indicates independent taxi driver. Since these drivers are not constrained by the regulations of big taxi companies, some of them are utterly unscrupulous and prone to capitalize on foreigners by all means.

2, Stay away from dark-red (maroon) or dark-blue taxi.. The taxis of major operating companies in Shanghai are in yellow, green, white, red and blue. As I know, most privatized taxis (with letter x in car plate, as was said) are in either dark-blue or dark-red. However, there are clone taxis as well which are, of course, illegal and can be any color. picture

3, Never follow any approaching person offering taxi service to you. There are numerous ardent local people willing to help and the odds to meet a fine one at the Longyang Road Station is nil.

4, Meter device is not the indicator of the legality. The illegal taxis are equipped with the rigged meters which run much faster occasionally only when there is first-time-here outlander.

5, Trickster would give you a receipt but a useless one with no substantial subject on it to merely muddle you through because you can’t read a Chinese word. A formal receipt has itemized information including car plate number, driver’s license number, time and distance, etc. Picture of a formal receipt underneath.

6, Don’t suppose that the official lineup be absolutely reliable because you can’t recognize whether the lineup you are taken to is real or not, especially as a first-time visitor knowing not even one Chinese character.

7, When you realize you have been cheated and there would be nothing better to do with it on the spot, other than take a snap shot of the car plate in virtue of downloading the luggage from the trunk or any time before the car has gone beyond a valid reach. However, do it promptly and unheeded yet with composure. A picture of the car plate number coupled with your complaint as a foreigner to police, with some extra assistance from a local or hotel, will definitely pose a deadly blow to the evil.

8, If you do want to try the Maglev out as unique experience, you can do it upon departure at Longyang Road Station which is about 20 - 30 min ride / CNY30 - CNY50 away from downtown area. It’s also accessible as an interchange station of metro to Line 2, Line 7 and Line 15. From there. the maglev train is bound for Pudong International Airport with no stop in the middle. The regular operation time is 6:45 to 21:40 daily with departure once every 15 minutes before 19:00 or every 25 minutes afterwards. The whole ride takes constantly 7 minutes and 20 seconds over the distance of 30 km although the maximum speed is available only in two periods a day, namely